Publication:Dread Codex 2/Artifacts

Contents

These items are extraordinary, and should be used with great care. They are powerful and can change the fate of a whole world. Many necromancers have given their life in the search for these, and an even greater number of wizards have died protecting the knowledge of their whereabouts.

This looks like a sharpened human femur with a dark purple, smooth stone fastened in the blunt end. The Bone has a strong aura of necromancy and faint, indiscernible murmurs can be heard when holding it to the ear.

Who created the Bone Spike, or how it came into the world, remains a mystery, but it is treasured among necromancers, who will go to great lengths to get this minor artifact. For the power of the Bone Spike to awaken, one must willingly pierce his own heart with it. Should that happen the person dies immediately but wakes up moments later, with his soul contained in the Spike. At that point, the person is completely dependent of the Bone Spike. Should the Spike be removed, the person will die instantly.

Removing the spike is rather easy; it merely takes a Strength check (DC 10). The DC of the Strength check increases by 2 each month until it reaches a DC of 30, at which point the spike is part of the person’s spine. Pulling it out is as easy as pulling his arm off.

As long as the Spike is lodged in the person, he cannot die. Wounds close up at a rate of 8 hp per round, and limbs regenerate (head too). Nothing short of a Disintegrate spell, or equivalent, can kill the wielder of the Bone Spike.

Extremely beautifully crafted, this slender, curved dagger makes no effort to mask its magical nature. The blade is fashioned from the brightest polished silver, with strands of gold criss-crossing across its length like the veins in a leaf. There is no crossguard, only a golden ring, in the shape of a beast head, protecting the index finger. The hilt is fashioned from soft white suede. The pommel is made to look like the loop of a key, and is made from the same exquisite gold and silver.

This dagger is far from a normal weapon. In fact, there is nothing special about it, combat-wise, but its true power lies in its command word.

When the proper command word is spoken, and the dagger is swung, it lashes open the curtain of space, and opens a gate to another location, much like the spell (travel version only).

The amulet consists of a heavy chain with a large medallion 3” in diameter and 0.5½” thick mounted between two links. The entire amulet is fashioned from a heavy bronze-like metal. The medallion is constructed of hundreds of interlocking pieces, which can be turned and twisted in thousands of combinations. When the pieces are adjoined in certain orders, a picture is formed and a power of the amulet is activated. Only a few of the amulet’s powers are known, and they are of both beneficial and deadly nature.

To assemble a picture, an Intelligence check is needed. The DC varies as described below. On a failed Intelligence check, there is a 50% chance that one of the faces are assembled unknowingly by the wearer, activating a random power. The effects of the amulet can only be countered with a wish or equivalent effect.

Note that while the term “wearer” is used throughout the descriptions, but the effect will remain even if the amulet is removed. Also, in case the amulet is activated with nobody wearing it, the wearer is the one activating it.

The wearer is blessed and cursed with strange luck – he may find a full purse in the street, only to find himself chased by an angry merchant or he might slay a mighty beast with a lucky blow, only to stumble and break his arm a minute later.

The wearer gains +1 Strength and Constitution each day. His muscle mass gradually increases and he grows about 5” in height and gains 50 lbs per day. Every 5 days his Dexterity, Intelligence and Charisma drops by 1 (to a minimum of 1) at which point growth stops, and the wearer is left with only the most basic skills, and will most likely be shunned by all of civilization.

The wearer is reduced to a near-vegetable, happy just to exist. His Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma scores are reduced to 1. He is unable to do much other than just sitting, drooling and smiling to himself.

The wearer starts feeling guilty about past deeds and bygone opportunities, slowly getting more and more depressed. He gradually loses the will to take decisions, fight and finally loses interest in doing anything other than sitting and lamenting his terrible existence. In this final state he also loses the will to eat and drink, eventually dying. The ordeal lasts 10-20 days.

Vast sums of coin sand other valuables (maybe magical items) begins to pour from everywhere around the wearer (cracks in ceilings/walls, holes in trees, fill nearby holes or ponds). It appears at a rate of 50-100 gp per round. What the wearer might not know is that the valuables are taken from his surroundings, thus a King or wealthy merchant might see his fortune disappearing in front of him. Most is taken from the wealthy.

The wearer is teleported and suddenly finds himself in a situation of dire peril. He may be hanging from the fingertips in a high mountain range carrying a heavy dragon’s egg in sack over his shoulder with the angry dragon swooping in to get him. He may suddenly find himself standing trial in front of an angry ruler (known to him or otherwise) who has just lost his only son and several officials in a terrible bloodbath committed by the wearer. What is always the case, is that the wearer is put in a near impossible situation to survive, but should he survive, the reward will be great and he will be teleported back to the time and place at which he originally activated the amulet. A reward with the potency of a wish spell will be granted, i.e. a fallen comrade might be resurrected, a mighty magical item might be granted (possibly linked to the peril), he might still hold on to the dragon egg, etc.

The wearer is blessed with unearthly charm and beauty, gaining +10 to Charisma. Every humanoid who catches a glimpse of the wearer (irrelevant of gender) is distracted, suffering -2 penalty to all rolls. Furthermore humanoids must succeed at a Will save with a DC of 10 + wearers Charisma bonus to bring harm to the wearer. But the beauty comes at a cost – the touch of metal delivers excruciating pain (stunned for one round, no save).

Some of the faces are more or less harmless, and would be useful to gameplay and could be used by the players, like the Face of the Jester. This makes for strange situations in which fate is controlled by this artifact: this may start a great adventure, as the heroes find themselves in the castle of the king, or perhaps within the walls of the wizard tower. The same could be said about the Door. This could serve the DM, and get the players from one place to another, perhaps crossing wide expanses, or perhaps just placing them in a dungeon far away.

There are many signs that this amulet is tied somehow to fate, and perhaps the gods themselves are looking for this item, and sends a cleric in the party, visions of its whereabouts. Certainly, in the wrong hands, this artifact will be more dangerous than anything.

What the ring is made from is impossible to tell – it constantly changes appearance, one second being golden with a green gem, the other being black with a white marble inlay, etc.

When the ring is donned nothing out of the ordinary is felt, but the change in appearance slows down to about once per minute. When the ring has been worn for about an hour, the wearer starts to notice changes. Every once in a while something strange happens around him. He might see a statue turning to look at him, a priest suddenly inviting him to dinner treating him like a long lost pal, a group of people standing silently looking at the ground hushing all that passes by. As time passes, the happenings get stranger, and the wearer might feel he is loosing his mind, seeing things that shouldn’t or couldn’t be happening. If people are asked about the happenings, they would either deny the happenings or think them completely normal. No matter what the wearer thinks, the happenings are real.

The ring twists reality around it and the only one who sees it is the wearer of the ring. If the ring is worn for 5 or more consecutive days, the result will be havoc. A whole city might be rearranged, a king begging in the street and a beggar sitting bloated on the throne. Nothing is impossible at that state.

Removing the ring doesn’t undo what already happened, but no new happenings occur. Eventually the king might regain his power, but nothing is certain.